To those who read my blogs,
I have to confess something. When I left my old Church, I felt unbelievably depressed. I was unsure if I wanted to continue pursuing being a pastor, continue on at Ambrose, and even pursuing life. It was not a good feeling at all. I started Church shopping in January. I wanted to find a Church where I could stay as far away from ministry as possible. I did not want to do anything, I just wanted to get healthy again in God.
Well, at the Church I found I got a bit of an awakening. It was a great place for me to heal up. In fact, I healed up so much that I started to desire ministry again. How crazy is that?
The funny thing is, that the more I go to this Church, the more I realize how important it is for me to be there. I am given opportunity to teach, one of the things I take great joy in, I learn more about the people, who I am loving more and more, and I even see this ministry being an encouragement to my future ministry which I believe will be working with Viet Gangs. I don't want to betray the trust of anyone at my Church, but let's just say for now that there is a similar interest.
It's funny how God works and operates. Here I thought I was just going to go to a Church for the purpose of healing, and then I end up getting better than I ever was! God is good, all the time, all the time, God is good!
- Joshua
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Missing Link and Why I Still Have Faith!
To those who read my blogs,
Please read this article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090519-missing-link-found.html
Have you read it? Good.
I do not care how many Missing Links are found, because it ill never shake my faith in God. A lot of Christians nowadays seem to be under this whole 'Seven Day Creation' thing where if God did not make the earth in seven days, then the Bible is lying. I am not one of them. Personally, I believe that God created the world, and how He did it is not something I care about particularly. the fact is, He did it. You cannot disprove God in anyway no matter how many missing links you find, because Genesis one was not written like a science text book, it was written as a poem. There are a lot of poetic features to Genesis 1 (the use of the number '7' for example) and therefore we should understand the chapter more as a parable written out for the ancient people than a step-by-step instruction manual for how God made the Earth.
So what if He used evolution to do it? Who cares! It's His choice, He's the God, He can do whatever He wants! Just because there is (or is not) a Missing Link, it does not take away from the fact that God created the world!
I have come to this conclusion, the only proof we have that God created the universe is the fact that the universe is here (there's a watch, so there must be a watch-maker, similarly, there is a universe, so there must be a universe maker). In theological terms, this is called the cosmological argument. Outside of that, there is nothing to prove God's existence except for personal interaction (talking to God) but that only proves Him to ourselves. No, we cannot prove God to anyone, and so there is no proof for anyone. There is also nothing that can disprove God. So because there is nothing to prove God, we need faith and that is what our salvation is based on, faith. Because God cannot be dis-proven, our faith is not stupid, because you can't prove He does not exist! Even if evolution is true (which I am not convinced it is nor do I think anyone will ever prove evolution true) it does not mean God does not exist. It just means He used something else to bring humans about.
Have faith, my readers, God is true!
- Joshua
Please read this article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090519-missing-link-found.html
Have you read it? Good.
I do not care how many Missing Links are found, because it ill never shake my faith in God. A lot of Christians nowadays seem to be under this whole 'Seven Day Creation' thing where if God did not make the earth in seven days, then the Bible is lying. I am not one of them. Personally, I believe that God created the world, and how He did it is not something I care about particularly. the fact is, He did it. You cannot disprove God in anyway no matter how many missing links you find, because Genesis one was not written like a science text book, it was written as a poem. There are a lot of poetic features to Genesis 1 (the use of the number '7' for example) and therefore we should understand the chapter more as a parable written out for the ancient people than a step-by-step instruction manual for how God made the Earth.
So what if He used evolution to do it? Who cares! It's His choice, He's the God, He can do whatever He wants! Just because there is (or is not) a Missing Link, it does not take away from the fact that God created the world!
I have come to this conclusion, the only proof we have that God created the universe is the fact that the universe is here (there's a watch, so there must be a watch-maker, similarly, there is a universe, so there must be a universe maker). In theological terms, this is called the cosmological argument. Outside of that, there is nothing to prove God's existence except for personal interaction (talking to God) but that only proves Him to ourselves. No, we cannot prove God to anyone, and so there is no proof for anyone. There is also nothing that can disprove God. So because there is nothing to prove God, we need faith and that is what our salvation is based on, faith. Because God cannot be dis-proven, our faith is not stupid, because you can't prove He does not exist! Even if evolution is true (which I am not convinced it is nor do I think anyone will ever prove evolution true) it does not mean God does not exist. It just means He used something else to bring humans about.
Have faith, my readers, God is true!
- Joshua
The Greatest Commandments
To those who read my blogs,
Have you ever insulted yourself? Have you ever said something really bad about you? Have you ever let what someone else said about you (as in something negative and untrue) become something you fully believe? Well here's what I have to say on that!
I was thinking about the greatest commandment because it is something that has always spoken to me since I became a Christian. Just so there is no confusion, here it is in the NASB: 37And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
38"This is the great and foremost commandment.
39"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
40"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
This is from Matthew 22:37-40.
Now the first greatest commandment is to Love God, and that seems like a no-brainer to me. God is good and He is worth loving. It is the second I want to speak on now!
Jesus says that we need to love one another as we do ourselves.
My question to you, the reader, is how do we love our neighbor if we do not love our self? I say it is impossible!
Before I continue, I will address something real quick. I am all about community. When I preach, even if it has nothing to do with community, I will mention the community of Christ. What I am saying here may seem like self absorbed garbage, but it's not.
The thing is, we need to realize the fundamental truth: that God loved us so much that He died on the cross for our sins. If we don't get that and insist on lowly prayers that call ourselves garbage or put ourselves to a very low standpoint, then we insult the person who loved us enough to both make us and die on a cross to save us. We need to take care of ourselves and know that we are worth something, or else we will not take proper care of others.
That's not to say that we are perfect and our sins are not really sins, because they are. Sinning is bad and we should not be doing it. Our sins are apart of us and make us dirty, but that does not change the fact that God loves you and you are worth something to Him, and to other people!
I hope this insight has helped you, the reader, out!
- Joshua
Have you ever insulted yourself? Have you ever said something really bad about you? Have you ever let what someone else said about you (as in something negative and untrue) become something you fully believe? Well here's what I have to say on that!
I was thinking about the greatest commandment because it is something that has always spoken to me since I became a Christian. Just so there is no confusion, here it is in the NASB: 37And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
38"This is the great and foremost commandment.
39"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
40"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
This is from Matthew 22:37-40.
Now the first greatest commandment is to Love God, and that seems like a no-brainer to me. God is good and He is worth loving. It is the second I want to speak on now!
Jesus says that we need to love one another as we do ourselves.
My question to you, the reader, is how do we love our neighbor if we do not love our self? I say it is impossible!
Before I continue, I will address something real quick. I am all about community. When I preach, even if it has nothing to do with community, I will mention the community of Christ. What I am saying here may seem like self absorbed garbage, but it's not.
The thing is, we need to realize the fundamental truth: that God loved us so much that He died on the cross for our sins. If we don't get that and insist on lowly prayers that call ourselves garbage or put ourselves to a very low standpoint, then we insult the person who loved us enough to both make us and die on a cross to save us. We need to take care of ourselves and know that we are worth something, or else we will not take proper care of others.
That's not to say that we are perfect and our sins are not really sins, because they are. Sinning is bad and we should not be doing it. Our sins are apart of us and make us dirty, but that does not change the fact that God loves you and you are worth something to Him, and to other people!
I hope this insight has helped you, the reader, out!
- Joshua
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Turning Nothing into Something!
To those who read my blogs,
Do I have a story for you! This week, was a bit of an eye-opener. Not only did I write the sermon in a half sleeping/half awake state, but I saved doing my sermon to the last minute (as per usual) and realized that my sermon required an alter call. Well, this means a few things. It means I have to ask the worship leader to do one more song at the end, it means I have to get spiritually strong people to help me pray for anyone who comes to the front, and it means I have to be willing to explain this thing that this church has never done before!
Well, I did it anyways, got the people involved and put it together last minute, and this is where it hits me. I am a pastor now, and I am not a very good one! I left everything to the last minute, got people involved far too late, and did something that may have turned out really wrong! Lord help me, I am a mess! I looked out to the crowd when I did the sermon, and it didn't look like people were getting it. I looked to my far left and up the stairs, and I saw the senior pastor looking (quite literally) down on me. I thought to myself, 'BAIL BAIL BAIL'! but I stayed the course and was willing to lie in the bed that I had made.
I finished the sermon, (which I felt was a mediocre one at best) and explained the alter call. The worship band came up and I stood at the front praying, not necessarily for someone to go up, because to be truthful I did not expect anyone to come up, but for God to be in that place, and He was, and I should never ever doubt Him or His ability to turn nothing special into something spectacular!
Three people came up. Three. Now keep in mind that my Church is not that big to begin with. Also keep in mind that this Church has never done an alter call before. I would have considered it a success if one person showed up at the alter, but three did! Then the confrontation came. That's right, I got confronted about my sermon. The girl confronting me told me it was the best sermon she has ever heard. What the heck am I supposed to do with that? Well, I'll tell you what I am supposed to do with that, blame it on God. There is no way my hurried sermon, rushed so I could meet a deadline and written while I was super tired, could have been anything special, but for some reason it was and for that I blame God! It's His fault, He only chose to use me (which sometimes I wonder why me).
I really felt God speak to me in this experience. He was saying, 'it's ok, you can rely on Me. I won't let you down, but the thing is, you are now participating in your calling, which means you have responsibility'. Today was the day I told my parents that I am a pastor, and today (even though I have led an English Ministry at another Church and was basically their pastor and even though I have been a pastor at this Church for a few weeks now) today I became a pastor, devoted to bringing the flock God's given me to a better understanding of Him. Let's just hope I don't screw it up, but I have a feeling that even if I do, God can still take my nothing and turn it into His something!
- Joshua
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